Rick of Aglazdere
"I'm a scientist. I invent, transform, create, and destroy for a living, and when I don't like something about the world, I change it. And sometimes science is more art than science. Lot of people don't get that." -Rick of Aglazdere History An artificer and sky pirate, Rick became Captain of a ship named the Barbatos, only to be face a mutiny led by his First Mate, Orga Gallerhorn. Rick plotted to regain his ship, only to find himself ensnared in the events that led to the Civil War of Aglazdere and the fall of the House of Azad. Alongside Annakiya and Yera McDonald, he recovered the Philosopher's Stone, re-opened the Laboratory of Varas, and fought valiantly in the Great Sky Ship Battle. After Padishah Sabahattin V destroyed the city of Varas, Rick and his allies fought him in the imperial palace, forcing him to surrender. The sky pirate mercilessly put a bullet through the mad monarch's skull, and watched as Yera McDonald sacrificed his humanity to bring back to life all those who had died by the Padishah's hand. Unable to live without his precious humanity, Yera fell by his own hand, and Rick wasted no time stepping over his corpse to sit in the Padishah's throne, against the wishes of Sohrab Melech, the esteemed gearpriest who had been chosen to rule Aglazdere. Appointing Annakiya his Grand Vizier, he granted her the Philosopher's Stone, and dared the powers that be to defy him. He was accepted as a compromise candidate by warring factions that could not otherwise agree, and there began his uneasy rule. Nine years into his rule, Rick would marry the Triniana Arikas, the sister of the great gnomish lord Tanros Arikas of Windemere. He would have two daughters with her, the princesses Arimyra and Isodira. This marriage pact would cement the pact between Aglazdere and Skycity Alliance. Personality The Padishah of Aglazdere is a complex figure, a skilled and ingenious leader when in his element, but dangerously self-serving and morally bankrupt. He is a brilliant scientist and skilled strategist, cool under fire - especially as regards sky ships - but that is tempered by a capacity for brutality, keeping grudges, and a disregard for life. He is not, however, utterly uncaring, and is in fact annoyed by unnecessary loss of life. His worst qualities from more from a jaded and easily bored nature then any malicious intent. He is something of a conman, being a skilled and self-serving liar, with a high esteem of his own talents. He despises being given orders, and believes he has the right to dictate his own destiny. A cosmopolitan at heart, he regards anywhere outside a major city not worth visiting. He has a habit of collecting trinkets and tinkering with them. Leadership Style The Padishah is a distant and disinterested monarch, preferring to dictate his goals in broad terms and allow his ministers to carry these out as they see fit. He defers to experts, and has kept much of the machinery of the civil state established by Grand Vizier Mazhar, allowing the state to operate with minimum interference by him. On the few instances where he does take interest in an issue, he typically rules by decree, with the expectation that his orders will be obeyed unconditionally. He is aware that he is not popular amongst his people, who see him as an unrepentant sky pirate preoccupied with Project Revival. He does nothing to dispel these perceptions, and ensures that his people are left alone to pursue their own fortunes without his interference. Feats of Magic Though he could imbue objects with magic as any artificer could, Rick was far more a scientist and inventor of marvels then a mere mage. More at home in a junkyard then a library, Rick had a feel for machinecraft that could only be called intuitive. * He was able to repair the destroyed alchemical Laboratory of Varas, largely teaching himself how to operate broken and lost technology. * He successfully implemented the largely theoretical practices of hydroponics and terraforming on a nationwide scale. * He revived the practice to genetic theory and engineering, having had to work backwards using ruined equipment and incomplete instructions. * He was able to re-wire sentient constructs such that he could, with time, bring them under his control. * His innovations to guncraft led to the creation of weapons with accuracy beyond their purported range, both as regarded hand-held weapons and larger ordinance mounted on skycraft. War of the Philosopher-Kings Padishah Rick would be a distracted and distant warleader, dividing his time between command and his research in the Laboratory of Varas. He would order the great ground offensive into the Final Empire, with the intention of supporting his men with his sky fleet. After the creation of the storm wall on the part of Emperor Silvius, he would find this plan stymied, as his sky ships were not able to pass into enemy territory. Rick would return to Varas for a time, leaving the war in the hands of Grand Vizier Annakiya and Commander Volkan (and later Commander Callias, following Volkan's death). He would bestir himself to defend his men from the Aurum dragonflight, personally commanding the sky fleet. He would come into direct contact with Princess Cordelia, who would descend upon a cloud drake, intending to destroy his ship, the Barbatos. The Padishah would fire at her, missing and killing her dragon instead. Cordelia would fly away, and both sides would retreat. Rick would arrive to see the end of the battle over the river states, in time to accept the surrender of the islander and Genasi troops. Returning to Varas, he would resume his laboratory work, pausing to order Arikas of Skycity Alliance to lead a punitive attack on Aurum. After the Sack of Al Mandera, Rick would realize that his sky fleet only had enough fuel for one voyage. Having heard of the Final Empire's invasion at the hands of the hobgoblins of Darguzze, he would realize that the war had come to an end for both sides. He would lead the sky fleet on one last voyage to come to the aid of his great enemy, breaking the hobgoblin lines. He would attempt to return home afterwards, only to be stranded on the border between the two nations. Having led his kingdom to ruin, Rick would face betrayal at the hands of his crew, who mutinied against him and left him stranded with the desert wastes on one side and mountainous wilderness on the other. Already an old man and not in the best health, Rick did not try to prolong his life with a doomed journey. He remained in the grounded hull of Barbatos, which had been stripped clean of weapons and provisions, and allowed death to come to him peacefully. He became the second Philosopher-King to die. As with most alchemists of Aglazdere, his soul would pass beyond the final gate, to become one with the Maker. Legacy (Fortune at the Helm) Rick's reception would be a harsh one on many quarters. He would largely be remembered as a warmongering opportunist, and a reckless leader who gambled at the highest stakes and lost. His scientific and technological marvels, while esteemed by scholars, would be largely overlooked, as much of it was lost during the war. A few would remember his dedication to Project Revival, and laud him for his efforts to restore Aglazdere to its former glory, but due to the secrecy of his work, he would be remembered more for his acts of sky piracy, loathed by all. Nonetheless, within the scientific community, he was revered as a genius; a ruler ahead of his time. By the time of Aglazdere's conquest by Shangare, there would be a small subset of nationalists who would remember his rule with pride, but otherwise, most were happy to forget him as a relic of a darker past. Rick's skeleton is still slumped over the wheel of the Barbatos amid the fallen sky ships on the border of Aglazdere and the Final Empire. There are a few forlorn monuments to him in Varas, but they are ill maintained. Category:Artificers Category:Sky Pirates Category:Monarchs Category:Philosopher-Kings Category:Gnomes Category:Aglazdere Category:Characters Category:Player Characters Category:Asa Category:Project Revival Category:Dead Category:Padishah of Aglazdere